Movie Review - Man Of Steel

He Was Pretty

Steven and I got to see Man Of Steel last night at a sneak peek viewing. That was interesting in itself. Apparently, they made some deal with Walmart so that their customers had a chance to see the movie early. There were cast and crew interviews and a direct "So glad you Walmart customers are here with us" message.

Shorty scored us two passes so we got in for free. I have to admit, I probably wouldn't have seen the movie in the theater without that "free" part. However, it did make my expectations low so anything decent was going to be a pleasant surprise.

Overall, it was just that. Decent. Not horrible, not spectacular.

The Decent

There was a lot of time spent on Krypton. It was an interesting visualization that was clearly, er, inspired, by other sci-fi movies. Someone with more time on their hands than me needs to ID all the "inspired" parts. I'll give a hint - start with Star Wars 1, 2 and 3 and Flash Gordon.

Russell Crowe on Krypton got to be pretty bad ass. Good fight scene. 

Clark's childhood was told in flashbacks. That worked for me as the pieces they showed were a nice tie in to what was happening in the present.

Kevin Costner did a good job of Kansas farmer, Jonathan Kent. It was an understated but sweet role.

The Not So Decent

Oy, the fight scenes, they so long. I love cool special effects but after the second or third time of Superman and his current sparring partner tearing up the pavement or crashing through entire buildings, I was done. I don't think a single edifice in Smallville or Metropolis was left undamaged.

Oh, Zod, We Hardly Knew You

You don't really get Zod's full motivation until near the end of the movie. A little exposition earlier on would have made us care about him a little more.

A great sci-fi movie leaves you thinking after you leave the theater, "Wow, everything was tied together so well." A good sci-fi movies leaves you thinking, "I didn't notice during the film but there are a few things that didn't make sense". A mediocre sci-fi movie is where you think during the film, "That's highly implausible" and "Really?" Man Of Steel falls into that latter category. 

Aging Diane Lane shouldn't make her look bad. She's a beautiful woman, she's going to be beautiful as she gets older, too.

When you're more focused on spotting your favorite characters from other shows in small roles (Helo!, Gaeta!, That dude from Dollhouse!) than you are on the story, it's not a ringing endorsement of the script. 

Overall, we're glad we didn't pay. In fact, Steven said on the way home, "I'd be pissed if I paid $8 to see that." However, for free, it was OK. I didn't feel like I wasted two hours of my life but I might have been just as happy to have stayed home and read a book.